Good morning, Agent Sunrise. Your mission, should you choose to accept it - knowing that termination awaits you if you choose to decline it - is to eavesdrop on the information exchange between the well-known terrorist group, BlackRising, and the resistance. We have intel that the exchange will take place tonight at the Fairgrounds in one of the ferris wheel’s pods. You are not to engage the targets - track and report only. Be advised that the resistance has counter-intel on our operations and may discover your identity. In the event that your cover is blown, take precautions to remove all evidence. Destroy this message in two seconds.
Tom Bond took out his lighter, flicked it open, and lit the corner of his newspaper. Hungry flames licked the paper, turning the words into charred garbage. He tossed the burning evidence into the nearest empty dustbin, leaving it to crumple to ash at the bottom. As he stalked down the deserted alleyway behind a factory, the gears of his mind spun in circles.
In a few hours, he would need to retrieve further details of the mission from the lady at the train station. Once he had an idea of the targets’ appearances, he could stake out the Fairgrounds. While going alone was his preference, he would stick out like a sore thumb at an amusement park, especially once he took up a post in one of the ferris wheel’s pods.
Sighing, he dragged a gloved hand down his cheeks. He had no choice but to employ his most effective disguise - the attentive boyfriend.
Time to call his fake girlfriend, Jane, and hope that she didn’t mind a last-minute, impromptu date.
Good morning. I have a customer for you, Prickly Duchess. Fairgrounds, the ferris wheel. Pod 6. 8pm.
Jane Briar placed the phone down with a click. She exhaled softly. The ferris wheel was never an easy place to kill someone. Pods were an enclosed space high above the ground with no viable exit. Plus, she would need an excuse to enter the pod alone. What was she to do?
The phone rang again. Frowning, she picked it up. Did her handler forget something?
“Morning, Jane. It’s Tom.”
Her face brightened. “Good morning, Tom! How have you been?”
“Ah, work has been busy as you know.” A merry laugh drifted down the line. “I’m sorry that this is last-minute but would you like to go on a date to Fairgrounds this evening?”
Jane’s eyes widened. This was perfect!
“I promised my friends I would bring a date-”
“Yes, I would love to!” she exclaimed.
“Wonderful. I’ll meet you at the Fairgrounds entrance around 7pm?”
She glanced at her wall clock. Meeting there at seven should give her enough time to choose and pack the right equipment for her assignment. “Okay, I’ll see you then.”
A smile flitted across her lips as she put the phone down. Having Tom as her convenient fake boyfriend was probably the best decision she had made in recent months. They worked so well together fending off “concerned” friends, relatives, and busybodies who demanded that they be attached to someone as per society’s expectations.
She skipped her way to her bedroom of assorted murder weapons, excited to be on her way to her date and rendezvous with death. Time to make the necessary preparations!
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